Traction-engine.



PATENTED JAN. 29, 1907. W. N. SPRINGER. 4 TRACTION ENGINE.

APPLICATION FILED HA3. 8, 1906.

', BBHEBTS-SHEET 1.

WWW/M P/Z/ A No- 842,840. PATENTED JAN. 29, 1907.

W- N. SPRINGER.

TRACTION ENGINE.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. a, 1906.

5 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

in WU-WU No. 842,840. PATENTED JAN. 29, 190?.

w. N. SPRINGER. TRACTION ENGINE.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 8,-1906.

' 6 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

I PATENTED JAN. 29, 1907. W. N. SPRINGER. TRACTION ENGINE.

APPLICATION FILED HA3. 8, 1908.

5 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

PATENTED JAN. 29, 1907.

5 SHEETS-SHEET 5.

Y/aZZZaW/bJW Hyei" M WW W. N. SPRINGER.

TRACTION ENGINE.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. e, 1906.

UNIT D STATES".

OF ILLINOIS WILLIAM SPRINGER, RPE0RIA, ILLINOIS, AssIoNoR To. AVRRY I MANUFACTURING COMPANY,'-OF,PEORIA, I NoIs. A-co Po TIoN TRACTION-ENGINE.

I I Specification of Letters Patent;

tamed Jan." 25,19

Original application filed December 21,1 904, Serial No. 237,859. Divided andthis application filed March 8,1906. 7 Serial No. 304.854.

To ail; whom it may concern:

Be it known that I WILLIAM N. SPRINGER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Peoria, in the county of Peoria and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Traction-Engines, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings.

- This invention relates to improvements in traction-enginesthat is, engines of the class which are adapted to propel themselves over the ground without requiring tracks-and is a division of my application, Serial No. 237,859, filed December 21, 1904.

(One of the objects of the invention is to so construct and relate thevarious essential parts of a traction-engine that the boiler and the parts immediately adjacent thereto shall be relieved of the eight of the shafting and gearing and relieved of the strains exerted by 7 is a section on the ine 7 7 of Fi 2.

In the drawings, A indicates t e bo ler;

these parts when the engine .inain frame, and the shafting and low.

Figure 1 is a side view of atraction-engine embodying my improvements. Fig. 2 is a plan view of the truck part, including the rear driving-wheels, the steering-wheels, the caring, the boiler and the cab being remove Fig. 3 is afront View of the vehicle on a larger scale.' Fig. 4 is a side view of a part of the framework and showingalso the boxes in which are supported the axle of the main driving-wheels and the intermediate powertransmitting shaft. Fig. 5 is a plan view ofa portion ofthe frame and the crank-shaft with'its associated parts and theelntch-shifting device for the twospeed mechanism. Fig; 6 shows a front elevation of the shifting bars for the speed-controlling clutches and the mechanism for o crating the same.

referred to are supported upon the trucka frame or vehicle-frame entirely independently of.the power-generating and powertransmitting devices, the latter being so secured directly to and supported upon the framework as to relieve the boiler of all strain.- 4

. The framework of the vehicle or truck consists of two longitudinally-arranged side beams or sills H and a central longitudinal beam 1, the latter being referably in horizontal planes somewhat a ove the planes of the beams H. The rear ends 1 of the side beams H are at the rear edge of the latform, and the beams extend forward by t e side of the fire-box and nearly vto the vertical plane of the front end of the boiler. The central longitudinal beam I has its front end considerably in advance of the front end of the boiler and extends backward to a transverse vertical plane considerably behind the front ends of the side beams H. It is firmly nected to the side beams by means of crossbars, plates, or brackets to be described.

J is a plate or bar secured to the upper flanges of-the side beams Hand extending lies under and partly surrounds the boiler,

furnishing for the latter support at the front end. Under the central portion of the boiler there is another bracket, (indicated as a whole by L.) It has a central .,vertical upright part 7, with a saddle-8 at the top for the formed with across bar. or plate9, 'whichis nal bar I. This bar is supported at its inner IOO boiler. At the lower part it is secured to or secured to the upper flange of the longitudi end'u'pon a transversely-arranged cross-bar r 9, which extends from one side beam H to the other and is rigidly bolted thereto. The rear part of the boiler structure is carried by standards or uprights M, which are bolted to the outer sides of the fire-box, as shown at 10, and have fla es 11, which are bolted to the top flanges of t e side beams H. The framework having the parts referred to and carrying the boiler and fire-box is supported upon front wheels 'N and rear wheels 0. The rear wheels are used as drivers, receiving the propelling power from the engines, and the frontwheels N are used for steering.

The front axle is indicated by 12. It passes through boxes 13 and through a sleeve 14. This sleeve at its center is connected to a hanger 15, the sleeve having a strong pivot-pin 16, fitting in an eye or hearing 17 in the hanger. The hanger is pivotally connected to the beam 1, there being a plate 18 bolted to the under side of the beam and formed with pivot-lugs 19. Hinge-bolts 20 connectthe ends of the hanger and pivot lugs 19. In order to have a resiliency of connection between the axle 12 and the framework and parts carried thereby, I 'interpose are formed on or secured to the steering-fork 22, which is arranged horizontally and extends backward to devices by means of which this fork can be moved laterally. The fork has a sleeve 23, in which fits or telescopes a rod 24. This rod at its rear end has blockhalves secured thereto, each of these block halves or sections having a trunnio'n pivot 26, i one projecting upward and the other downward.

27 is a fork, the arms of which are connected to the trunnion-pivots 26.

28 is a nut mounted on a transverselyarranged screw threaded shaft 29. This shaft is mounted in depending hangerbrackets 30, bolted to the front ends of the longitudinal side beams H.- When the shaft- 29 1S rotated, its thread, which engages. with the nut 28, will cause the latter to move transversely of the machine. The fork 27 is pivotedto the nut by trunnion-pivots 31. When the shaft is "rotated and the nut is moved longitudinally thereof, it carries the fork with it, and as the latter is connected to the. rod 24 the latter is also moved laterally, this causing the fork' 22 to swing around the vertical axis at 16 and tom oVe the axle 12 to one line or another inclined to the path of advance of the machine. The pivots at 26 permit freedom of movement of the rod 24 and of the fork relatively to each other. The screw-shaft 29 is rotated by a gear-wheel 33, secured to it, this wheel being driven by-a pinion 34 on a shaft 35, mounted on one of the brackets 30.

36 is a bevel-pinion on the shaft 35, meshing with a bevel-pinion 37 at the end of a shaft 38, which extends back to the engineers cab or to a point where it can be readily rotated by hand. When it is so rotated, it will through the gearing just referred to rotate the screw-shaft 29 and cause the latter to move the nut 28 toward one side or the other of the machine and accomplish the adjusting of the front wheels, so as to steer tln machine in the desired direction. wheels or driving-wheels O are mounted on the ends of the axle 37. This axle is supported on the side beams H of the'frame and extends from points outside of one across the frame to points outside of the other. It is secured to the frame by a yieldin' holder.

38 39 are two box-halveswhic surround the shaft and which are clamped together by bolts 40. These bolts have collars, the extended parts being indicated by 42. 43 is a cross rod or plate near the lower ends of these bolt extensions.

44 and 44 are nuts at the lower ends of the bolts which hold the cross-plate 43 in position and by means .of which it can be adjusted vertically.

45 45 are springs, of which there is one around each of the bolts 42, each spring bearing upward against the beam I and bearing downwardagainst the cross-plate 43.

46 46 are uide-brackets bolted to the upper flange of the beam I and lying immediatelyadjacent to the parts 38 39.

It will be seen that the frame-beams H under the weight of the boiler and other parts resting upon theframe can move downward relatively to the axle, the guide-brackets 46 46 slipping down and up at the ends of the box 38 39 and the springs 45 yielding to the downward movement. When the springs are free to react, they lift the frame and the parts carried thereby.

The engines to bereferred to more fully below drive the ground-wheels 0 through shaftin and gearing, as follows: 47 is the crank-s aft, which is provided with gear- Wheels 48 49 ,adapted to be alternately connected to the intermediate shaft 50. This shaft carries at one end a gear-wheel 51, adapted tobe driven by the gear-wheel 49 and which in turn drives the outer part or wheel 52 of the compensating gearing (indicated as a whole by P) and having the two driven elements 53 54, these being pinions which respectively engage with the gearwheels 55 56, one secured to one of the drivewheels 0 and'one secured to the othernt the other end the shaft 50 carries the gear:

The rear whe hichm'eshes with the gear-wheel 48x1: Th Qmpensating" gear P is onthe coun er-shaft Q, which. is mounted in bearihgsata57;onthe-fraineebars H.

in .o der toamaintain proper driving relationshiprbetwcen Fthe-counter-shaft and the ground-wheels and avoid disadvantages that would-resultfrom the vertical play of the framework in relation to the rear axle, I employ radius-bars58, each having a hinge o'r pivotal. engagement at one end with the counter shaft and at .;.the other end with the rear axle These radius-bars may be arranged immediately inside of the main driving-gears 5355 on one side .and 54 56 on the other side at. any; suitable lines. The engin'esaregindicated by R R. Each has the cylinder '59, the guide 60, and the ex- 1 tension-plate 61, which. extends forward to the crank-shaft 47. -=Each cylinder is bolted to the above cross plate or bar J. The rear parts of the extension-plates 61 are cast with or secured to bearing-stands 62, in which the crankeshaft is mounted. I 3 The outer bearings of the crank-shaft are indicated at 63. These and the bearings at 62 are secured-t0 a cross-plate 64, which eX-. tends from one side beam H to the other. 64* are the valve-chests, and 65 are the valve-rods. These are pivoted to the arms 66 of rock-shafts 67, which are mounted in hearings on the under side of the guides 60.

68' are the eccentric-rods connected to crank-arm 69 on the rock-shaft 67, these eccentric-rods being connected toeccentrics 7 O. The engines can be reversed in any wellknown manner. For illustration I have shown a valve-gear of the well-known link type, with sliding blocks for controlling the eccentrics. ,These blocks are indicated at 71, they being mounted in guides 72, which are pivotally supported, as indicated at 73, about the axes of=which pivots they are free to be swung by, link mechanism comprising the links 74, pivotally connected at their upper ends to'the said-swinging guides and at their lower ends-to the, upper ends of the leverarms ,7 5, which arms are rigidly secured to a transversely-arranged shaft 76, mounted in suitable bearings onthe en ine-frame. 77 is an arm. rigidly secured to t c said -shaft. 78 isa pitman pivotallyconnected at its forward end to the rear lower end of said arm 7 7 and at its rearend to a lever-arm 79, rigidly se- 'cured to -a cross-shaft 80, mounted in bearings on the frame-bars i I 81 is a reversing-lever mounted on the-platform of the engine or at points accessible to the engineer and connected to the rock-shaft -80.by a link-rod 82 and a crank 83.

' ,The throttle-leveris indicated at 7 8 it be in connected by a link 79' with a throttleva ve at 80, which may be .ofrany usual or", preferred construction. The steam is car- 65 ried from the globe-valve G through a horil to which the shaft 99 is rotated."

zont-al duct, (indicated -by"81". Thispasses through the water and steam chamberx'in th'e' boiler and then through the-end-wall at 82 of" the chamber and is connected'to the :vertical- 1 duct 83, which passesdownward through'the- 7e chamber at 83 to the governor v-alve chamber 84 The valve in this chamber is controlled by the governor devices 84. From the valvechamber the steam passes through the ducts 85 to the steam-chests 64 The exhauststeam is taken through exhaust-ducts having the curved parts 86 and the vertical parts 87, which are united at 88 ;to the vertical duct. 89, which extends upward to points immediately below the smoke-stack E, through which latter the exhaust. is driven for increasing the draft when it is desired.

The upper part of the front end of the boiler is laterally braced by means of stay rods90, which are formed with feet 91, that are fastened to the beam I by a clamp-plate 92 and bolts 93.

The wheels 48 and 49 on the crank-shaft are loose, one at one end of the shaft and the other at the other end. 94 94 are clutches feathered to the shaft 47 and adapted to slide thereon, the wheels 48 and 49 having clutchfaces, with which, respectively, the clutches 94 can engage.

47 is a belt-wheel secured to the shaft 47 and adapted to transmit power from the en gines to whatever machine is to be driven by it. It also serves as a momentum or fly wheel to assist the engine when it is being used to propel the machine along the ground. [00

The. mechanism for shifting the clutches to throw into operation either set of speed-gear is indicated as an entirety by S. Preferably it consists of the transversely-arranged superpoesd sliding bars 95 96, each of which r05 carries at its outer end a clutch-fork 97, which is adapted to engage with the collar of the adjacent movable clutch-jaw, The lower one of these two bars is supported near either end upon uprights 98,,which are rigidly se- :10 cured to the side bars H of the frame. 95 is a downwardly-extending pin arranged to fit intoa slot 96 in the adjacent end of the bar96.

99 is a transverse u carrying at one end a double-grooved cam 100.

101 is a rollerpivotally connected to the .bar 95 and arranged to engage with the walls of one of the camrooves 1n the cam" 100. I20 The shifting bar 95l1as a slot at 95'" through which )rojects a 'studor pivot rigidly secured to the bar 96 and carrying at its upper end a roller 102, which is arranged to engage with the walls of the second cam-groove in the cam 100. These cam-grooves are so arranged in relation to each other and to the rollers which they control as to cause the shifting of the bars 95 96 in either direction, according It will thus 13o lv-arranged rod or shaft 11 be seentliat when the said shaft QQ -istmnedin one directionthe bar 95 be projected in su'ehmanner as to disengage-the movable clutch element controlled by it from its adehiteh-element; and the bar 96 will be shifted so as to cause the clutch element con= trolled; by it, to operatively en age'with the adjacent. clutch element. The ars 95 96 are capable of movement relative toeach other, andtlie grooves in the cam, which may be sections of helices, are so correlated" as to causeboth of the bars 95.96 to hold the clutch elements controlled by them, respectivelyfin inoperative-position in certainpositionaofadjnstment of the rod. 99,' thus providing for the running'of the-engines free and independent of the tractiene gearing'eithen for t e purpose of getting upspeed'orfor the purpose of transmitting power through the .elt wheel and the belt for any desired purpose.

The outer ends of the bar 99 are squared to-recerve a wrenchor' any suitable device for engagmgswith them in. order toturn the said rod; Whendesired, suitable mechanism can be. arranged between the rod 99 and the engineers platform, by means of which it is possible to control the rotation of the said rod Without the necessity of the operator leaving the engineers'cab.

What I claim is 1. In a traction-engine, the combination a frame, steering-wheels, a. motor, and traction-wheels, of a two-speedtransmissiongearing interposed between the said motor and the traction-wheels,- clutches for connectin up the-gears, shifting rods, one for eacho said clutches, and means for simultaneously actuating said rods to cause them to operate the movable elements. of said clutches.

'2. In. atraction engine, the combination with agframe, steering-wheels, a motor, and traction-wheels, of a two-speed transmissiongearing interposed between the said motor and the traction-wheels, clutches for con:

trollingthesaid rods.

4. In a road engine, the combination with a frame, steering-wheels', a motor, and drivingfwheels, of a two speed transmission-gearing interposed betwe'enthe motor and said driving-wheels,i clutches" for connecting up I I fof gears, shifting rods forcontro ling mg each of'said clutches, and-cams for consaid clutches each movable independently of the other, cams associated with said rods for shiftingthern, and means for operating said cams simultaneously.

5. In a road-engine, the combination with a frame, steering-wheels, a motor, and driving-wheels, of atwo-speed transmission-gear ing. interposed between the motor and said driving-wheels, clutches for connecting up each setof gears, shifting bars, each adapted to control one of the said clutches, a worm, projections on said rods adapted to be engaged by said worm. and means for actuating the Worm.

6. In a road-engine, the combination with a frame, steering-wheels, a motor, and driving-wheels, of a two-speed transmission-gearinginterposed between the motor and said driving-wheels, clutches for connectingup each set of gears, shifting bars, each arranged to control one of said clutches, and means associated with said bars for movin them'in the same direction to cause the 'sengagement of one clutch and the engagement of the other and for moving one bar relatively 'to the other in order to shift each movable clutch element into operative position.

' 7. In a traction-engine, the combination with a frame, steering-wheels, an engine on said frame, and traction-wheels;'of a shaft between the crank-shaft of the engine and the axis of thetraction-wheels, a two-speed transmission-gearing interposed between said counter-shaft and said crank-shaft and arranged to drive the counter-shaft at different speeds, the gears for each speed on'the crank-shaft being loosely mounted thereon, clutches, each adapted to connect one of said loose gears to said crank-shaft, shifting bars each connected to the movable element of one of said clutches,'means for movingsaid bars to cause the engagement-ofone of said clutches and the disengagement of the other one, and power-transmitting devices connecting the said'counter-shaft with the said traction-wheels.

8. In a traction-engine, the combination .with steering-wheels, a rear axle, and traction-wheels mounted on said rear axle, of a frame supported by said wheels and yield ingly mounted on said rear axle, an engine secured to the frame, shafting and gearing including a counter-shaft interpose between said engine and said traction-Wheels, and radius-bars connecting said counter-shaft and rear axle, each radius-bar having the axis of its pivotal connection with the counter-shaft coincident with the axis of the said.countershaft.

9. In amOtor-vehicle, the combination of a suitable frame, steering-wheels connected to the frame at one end thereof, a non-rotary rear axle extending transverselyacross the frame at one end thereof and yieldably connected to said frame, a motor'suitably secured to the IIS frame, traction-Wheels loosely mounted on rear axle and free to turn about the axis'of either end of said rear axle, shafting and said axle independently of the frame. 10

gearing including a counter-shaft inter osed In testimony whereof- I afiix my signature between said motor and said traction-W eels, in presence of two Witnesses.

and radius-b ars connecting said counter-shaft WILLIAM N. SPRINGER. near either end thereof to the adjacent end Witnesses: 4 of said rear axle, each of said radius-bars hav- GEO. T. KLEIN,

ing its rear end loosely mounted upon said R. A. WnEELER. 

